Montreal Steak

Good to be back in Montreal, have been here since Sunday afternoon and having a ball. Didn't have much to post here, so I haven't. Figured I would give you all a break.

Kind of uneventful day at Centre Bell, the two teams practicing and just generally enjoying the day.

Except for JM. I don't think he likes coming up to this part of the hockey world very much, especially with a hockey team much closer to last place in the East than eighth. Usually if someone asks the same question twice, JM will answer it twice. Not today. He was a little snippy with the local media, although he was cool with us. So that's good.

On the food front: had a famous smoked meat sandwich at Ruebens with Goldie, Denis and Brian X. Very nice. Denis also ordered up some gravy for our fries, and that was a veteran move on his part. Pretty good. I tried some Poutine yesterday and wasn't impressed. The place we went today, though, was money.

Going to try and get a picture with Youppi! tonight. The former mascot of the Expos (see above) has moved over and is the new mascot of the Habs. If I get a pic, will post here. They also have an Expos banner honoring the retired numbers of the late franchise. I think that's classy. Will get a pic of that too.

THE NEWS: Rositslav is back, said he had a good time down on the farm. Even said he went and saw Borat while in Rochester. He liked it, but added Eastern Europe is nothing like portrayed in the flick. He wanted to make sure we knew that.

Also said the offensive minded Americans there in Rochester did help his game. Said they believe the best defense is a good offense. Huh. Sounds like the Sabres. No wonder Rochester in in first place. Olesz actually said the game is a quicker pace down in the AHL because everyone is going full speed all the time. Take from that what you will....

-- Rob Globke was there for the latter part of the skate. Mike Van Ryn is back, but still looks like he hasn't completely shaken the flu.

-- Alex Auld in net tonight.

-- It's freaking cold.

-- Off to Ottawa tomorrow. Told it's the capital of Canada, although I always thought that was Washington D.C. Whatever.

-- Jay Bouwmeester is second in voting for the All-Star Game among East defensemen. Seems like some of you are voting more than the recommended once a day allowence. I don't think Jay will snitch on you, so neither will I.

-- Panthers wearing their home blue jerseys tonight so Montreal can wear their old-school vintage whites.

-- Olli Jokinen only has four assists on the road this season. Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau says that doesn't mean anything. "He wasn't scoring the last time we saw him either,'' Carbonneau said. Oh yeah: last time these two met, Olli recorded a hat trick in a 4-1 win for Panther de Floride.